Archives: Devotionals

“The Song of Mary”

These verses from Luke 1 have been called “Mary’s Magnificat”, or Mary’s song of praise. What is her praise song about? When God acts, there is a reversal. It is not the mighty or the proud that get exclusive access to God’s work, it is the humble, the weak, the powerless. Those who have built their lives arrogantly upon themselves, those who have shoved their way to the top, will get a painful reality check when God acts in the world. God looks for those who are humble and put their trust completely in Him.

This song carries a theme from Isaiah 61, that God takes the ashes of our lives and makes them into something beautiful. These verses from Isaiah 61 were so important, that Jesus chose to begin His first sermon in Luke (Luke 4:16-21) with them. I suspect that His mother Mary taught Him this idea from a young age.

Maybe you are in a helpless situation, or maybe you feel overlooked and powerless. The state of your circumstances aren’t nearly as important as the state of your heart. Whether you are powerless or powerful, are you humble? That is what God is looking for when He is at work, those with humble hearts. Let’s take today, and this season as a whole, to recognize any pride in our lives and repent of it, humbling ourselves before Him and trusting in Him to follow through on His word, not trying to make it all happen by ourselves.

“Joy and Peace in Believing”

Today’s readings converge themes from last week (hope), this week (peace), and a small preview of next week (joy). In the gospel reading, Mary visits Elizabeth and the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy and is filled with the Holy Spirit. I find it incredible that the first person to recognize Jesus was a baby still in the womb! There is great joy that comes with recognizing Jesus, even in the hidden or subtle moments of life and relationships.

You may be in a season of waiting. Most of our life is in that season. Advent is a season for us to slow down enough to pay attention to what we are actually waiting for. Instead of just blowing our way through life, speeding through it in a hurry, distracting ourselves from the uncomfortable realities of living in a broken world, we are called to spend Advent recognizing God’s promises and our hopes. Often when we slow down enough to pay attention, the Holy Spirit enables us to recognize the ways Jesus is still present in our lives in the midst of our waiting. This recognition fills us with God’s peace.

Paul’s prayer at the end of the reading from Romans is that God, whom he identifies as “the God of hope,” would fill us with joy and peace in our believing. So today, can you recognize your hope in God and allow it to settle you in faith that He is at work, even when we can’t see it or feel it? When we can trust God, it fills us with joy and peace. You may be having to wait, but you don’t have to wait in fear or anxiety. The power of the Holy Spirit empowers us with hope, joy, and peace as we trust God, even in the waiting season.

“Nothing Will Be Impossible For God”

Today, we come back to the story of Mary’s conversation with the angel Gabriel. Mary, no more than 15 or 16 years old, is curious how she’s going to have a baby while being a virgin, and Gabriel makes clear that it is the very power of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that hovered over the waters in Genesis 1, bringing life and light out of the dark chaos, will come into her womb, and generate the life of the child, the Son of God. There is a clear sense of this being hard to believe, so he informs Mary of another unlikely miracle, that of her barren elderly cousin who is also pregnant. Then he makes one of the most powerful statements in the whole of Scripture, “For nothing will be impossible for God”!

What impossible situations are you up against? What challenges have you faced that seem insurmountable? What has God said about those things? What has God said about you? Whatever God’s will is in those situations, however improbable or impossible, nothing is impossible for God!

Mary’s response to such a powerful declaration is just as miraculous: “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Keep in mind, Mary is only a teenager, and yet had the faith to trust in God’s word, regardless of how impossible it sounded. So what is God’s word to you today? Do you see yourself as Mary saw herself, the servant of the Lord? Can you trust God’s word, even if it seems impossible?

“From Everlasting to Everlasting”

I love the poetry of the Psalms. The Psalms are prayers for the people and Psalm 103 is a beautiful one. In today’s portion of the Psalm we are reminding ourselves of the character of God and His relationship to us. His steadfast love is beyond measure, it’s so vast that it is as “high as the heavens are above the earth” and so long-lasting that it’s “from everlasting to everlasting.” His steadfast love (His “chesed”) toward us reveals His mercy, His compassion, and His forgiveness. It reminds us He does not view us through the lens of our sins and weaknesses, but through His character. It is His character, not our behavior, that makes Him faithful to His covenant promises.

You may be very aware of your sin and weaknesses and think that those are making God turn away from you. But it is quite the opposite. God loves you and has abundant mercy and forgiveness ready for you. He “remembers that we are dust,” and quite frail. His steadfast love is overflowing for you, and He invites you to repent of any sin and recognize your weaknesses and turn your face back toward Him and experience His steadfast and unfailing love.

“Peace on Earth”

We can be at peace in any situation, not because we ignore the trouble and struggles in the world and just pretend to be happy, but because we trust that God will be true to His word – that Jesus will come again and make things right. Where are you feeling a lack of peace? How can you shift your focus away from that situation and back on to the promises of God?

The Blessed Hope

Paul, writing to his pastor friend Titus, refers to the “appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” as the “blessed hope.” What are we hoping for? For Jesus to appear. We celebrate Advent to nurture our waiting and hoping for Christmas, which celebrates Jesus’ first advent, which in turn nurtures our hopes for the second advent of Jesus.

Today, let’s be reminded of what this season is really about. It’s not the shopping or the holiday parties; it’s about Jesus. And we don’t just celebrate Jesus coming as a baby in the past. We celebrate by anticipating His return in the future, the hope that is most blessed.

Light to those in darkness

In the last part of Zechariah’s prophecy, he turns to speak over his son, John. He prophecies his role in God’s plan to bring salvation to His people. These are powerful words of promise: salvation, forgiveness, tender mercy. He draws attention to what it’s like to experience these things from God. It’s like a sunrise.

Are you in darkness today? Is your life in a season or a moment that feels like night? Maybe you don’t know where to go or what to do. Maybe your feelings are overwhelming. You might even be wondering if this season will ever end. You are looking for the sunrise. And just as the sun faithfully rises every morning, so God will faithfully bring His word to pass.

As you read the verses today, imagine the sunrise. That is what it is like to trust God through the night and see Him come through at dawn.

Remembering His Covenant

In Zechariah’s Holy Spirit-inspired prophecy, he is giving praise to God by noting that God has not forgotten His promises and has remembered His covenant with His people. Zechariah praises God by celebrating God’s character and steadfast love – that He is fulfilling all He has promised to do!

When we are struggling and waiting, we are tempted to think that God has forgotten us, that He has forgotten His promises and might not pull through for us. This is the moment we must be reminded of God’s steadfast love! Zechariah’s words remind us of all the times God has been faithful in the past and that when He makes a promise, He will keep it. It may not be the way we think He should do it or at the time we would like Him to, but He is faithful and will fulfill His word.

Psalm 77 is an honest prayer. It gives language to what it feels like when we are in tough times and struggling with difficult things. When we are in dark valleys, we can begin to wonder if God has forgotten us or forgotten His word. Has His love ended forever? We know the answer to that question is “No”, yet it expresses an honest feeling. But the psalmist does not end there. He says, “I will remember…”! When our feelings are overwhelming, we are invited to remember: remember what He has done for us, remember what He has done in Christ, and remember what He has done for His people throughout history.

Can you remember a time God has been faithful to you? Can you reflect on God’s faithfulness by sending Jesus for us?

What will this child be?

Today, we come back to the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. They waited, they prayed, and God made them a promise that they would have a son. We continue this story with the birth of their son, John the Baptist. Because this was obviously God at work, an elderly couple having a baby, it is important to see He gets all of the glory.

Ever been tempted to give up on your trust in God when the people in your life are judging your situation and maybe even looking down on you for hoping and trusting in God? I’m sure the neighbors of Zechariah and Elizabeth looked down on them for not having children. Now these same people are present for the birth of this miracle baby, and both Elizabeth and Zechariah give God all the glory. This caused those watching to be amazed and in awe and caused them to spread the amazing news over all surrounding villages. Noticing this was obviously God at work they, in amazement, asked, “What then will this child be?” In other words, when God does something miraculous, it causes people to pay attention and give God glory.

We have the same opportunity. When we put our hope and trust in God, it can look strange to people, maybe even cause them to look down on us. But when God shows up in our lives in an obvious way, people can’t help but give God the glory. Maybe this can help us change the perspectives of others when we are in struggles that seem impossible. We are invited day after day to place our hopes and trust in God, who works all things together for our good and for His glory.

God’s Steadfast Love

There is a Hebrew word that is often used in the Old Testament that is very important in understanding the character of God. The word is “khesed” (or “checed”). It is translated into English in many different ways: “unfailing love,” “mercy,” “kindness,” “lovingkindness”. The English Standard Version usually translates it as “steadfast love.” What does this word mean?

Because of the many different words used to translate it, you can see that it is a challenge to capture the true meaning of the word in English. The following analogy is a helpful way to explain what the meaning is. It’s like an elderly couple that have been in a loving, committed marriage for many many decades, but in their old age the wife suffers from dementia. She doesn’t remember much of their life together anymore, even forgets that she is married, forgets who her husband is, and becomes unable to take care of herself. Yet through the entire process, her husband cares for her, loves her, tends to her needs, and is tender, gentle, and sacrificial in his love for her. The husband that remains committed to his covenant with his wife with tender and sacrificial love, even when she forgets their relationship and who he is, is showing “khesed,” – steadfast love.

This is the kind of love God has for us. He is tender and caring, sacrificial in His love toward us, even when we are short-sighted and selfish, even when we forget our commitment to Him. God shows this kind of steadfast love toward us even when we do not deserve it. So even when we are forced to wait, we can put our trust in Him. He is where we should place our hope.

Today, we are being encouraged to place and keep our hope in God, who shows us steadfast love and who will keep all of His promises. He has been faithful in the past, and He will remain faithful until the end.